Dive Brief:
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The city of Baltimore has signed an agreement with the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Maryland Clean Energy Center to develop a financing model to make solar energy more accessible to low-income residents, according to The Baltimore Sun.
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Solar panels can cost as much as $15,000 for a typical Baltimore rowhouse, which can be prohibitive for many residents.
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The city hopes to finalize details of the financing program, including a maximum income level to qualify and whether panels will be owned or leased by homeowners, within the next six months.
Dive Insight:
As the sales practices of some solar power vendors come under increasing scrutiny, some localities are moving to find ways to reduce the financial burden and make solar power options easier to understand and more affordable for a wider variety of consumers.
A Federal Trade Commission workshop last month looked into issues such as whether or not solar companies fully and clearly explain the prevalent solar leasing model to potential customers and whether or not claims of energy savings use accurate modeling techniques.
Baltimore, meanwhile, has teamed up with the DOE and the Maryland Clean Energy Center to find new financing models for residential solar applications. The partners says existing financing options for installing solar panels often require a sizeable up-front investment or a high credit rating, putting solar power out of the reach of many low-income homeowners.
Details of the program are still being worked out, but in a statement, David Foster, a senior adviser at DOE, said he and his colleagues "want to prove the clean-energy revolution in our country can be designed to include everyone."
The new program eventually could serve as a national model, Foster said.
The target audience for the program will be residents who have participated in the city’s home weatherization program. The program also will include a workforce training program for renewable energy jobs.
Earlier this year Baltimore also committed $200,000 for solar installations at 30 houses near Morgan State University.